


You Are What You Drink

by Debz_Baumaus



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Awkward Flirting, Boys In Love, Feelings Realization, First Kiss, First Love, Gay Linhardt von Hevring, Linhardt von Hevring Being Linhardt von Hevring, Love Confessions, M/M, Oblivious Ferdinand von Aegir, Perfect Tea Time (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Pining, Romantic Fluff, Secret Crush, Short & Sweet, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-09
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-14 18:28:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29300412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Debz_Baumaus/pseuds/Debz_Baumaus
Summary: Ferdinand is forced to realize he may have more in common with Linhardt than their shared taste for Almyran Pine Needles Tea.Of course, the realization is brought forth by Linhardt himself.(Tea Time mechanic used as an A support.)
Relationships: Ferdinand von Aegir/Linhardt von Hevring
Kudos: 9





	You Are What You Drink

"Linhardt, my friend! In the thick of studying, I see!"

Linhardt doesn't bother to look at him, his eyes still following along the words of the huge leather-bound book he was devouring.

"Yes, Ferdinand. And I would like to continue, so be kind and go on your way, please."

He expected as much; Linhardt had always been dismissive towards him. He suspected it was a difference of energetic levels and enthusiasm that just made the other student repel him. But he wouldn't give up on any of his classmates! Not as long as his name was Ferdinand Von Aegir!

"You see, I came here to invite you to share a pot of Almyran Pine Needle tea. I know it is your second favorite after Angelica. It is mine, too! After the Seiros blend."

Linhardt's eyes stopped moving. Ah! So he caught his attention!

"Hmm... I suppose a well-deserved break is in order, then."

He closes the heavy tome and hides it atop a shelf in a back corner of the library, before turning to Ferdinand expectantly. "Lead the way."

Ferdinand walked them stiffly towards the gazebo.

While they let the leaves steep in the boiling water, Ferdinand couldn't help but shift in his seat. Ever since discovering Linhardt could outrun him for more minutes than he'd ever expected from anyone, he'd been wanting to train together all the more. He wondered if his friend had a secret hobby that kept him so nimble, whether he had at least some wiry muscles to his frame.

Caspar had told him Linhardt had always been more prone to drop on the ground and watch the clouds than run along to fight with sticks. He would climb trees, but for the purpose of hiding from his father and would, worryingly often, nap on the branches, with Caspar always at the ready in case he fell.

But now wasn't the time to think about the possibility of Linhardt having muscles and how they'd make him look. Actually, it was never a time for such inappropriate thoughts.

He should focus!

"So, Linhardt, I am curious about the sudden bout of athleticism you showed the other day. I must admit that, in the battlefield, I do not believe that any enemy that goes unmounted could catch you!" He says through a light laugh.

Linhardt fiddles with the spoon in front of him. "Survival instincts, you might call them; a fight of flight response triggered by fear and sure danger. My adrenaline levels peaked to help me stay away from you and training."

As Ferdinand prepared his responding quip of how, either way, they both ended up training, Linhardt sighed. "Yes, I know what you're about to say. You won. You made a fool of me, running around the entirety of Garreg Mach three times for everyone to see.

Thanks to that, Edelgard has been pestering me about going about doing chores to keep up my energy levels. Honestly, she is very close to driving me to run away from the monastery itself, instead.

Perhaps I could become a scribe for uneducated commoners and assist fisherman whenever money runs low on me."

He couldn't believe this! Him, Ferdinand Von Aegir, listening to the only heir of House Hevring, the man who would take on the role of the Minister of Domestic Affairs, spewing such nonsense! To even consider the thought of renouncing his position of power in the Empire's nobility, for what? Fishing? Writing?

(Well, being a scribe would help communications among the commoners, since many never learned how to read or write, very much like Cyril...)

"I believe the tea has been ready for some time. Shall we drink, now? The sooner we finish, the sooner I get to sleep."

Ferdinand pours the cups, stunned into silence. Once he finishes, he puts the pot aside and stares blankly at the table, making Linhardt frown. "Ferdinand?"

"Oh! Sorry! Please." He extends his hand, prompting his friend to drink first.

"Don't mind me." He observes Linhardt's slow, elegant movements. He has always had an air of refinement that immediately vanished away as soon as he yawned or started talking in his curt and blatant way, manners all but forgotten even in the presence of people of higher standings.

It is such a pity. Linhardt is aesthetically charming and attractive. Not as femenine that one would think him a woman, but delicate enough to catch the eye. He would say he felt compelled to protect him, seeming so fragile, but he was a powerful magic user both as a healer and on the offense.

"I find it quite strange that you would drink this tea, but much more so that you've decided to have me tag along. I've heard you normally go for the Southern Fruit Blend, but share the Seiros Tea more often than not with Lorenz."

Ferdinand did not expect him to be so keen on remembering such unimportant details. "How do you know such things?"

The man shrugs and yawns before speaking. "The professor and I talk. And... Lorenz once caught me sleeping outside one night and my ribbon had come loose. He didn't recognize me and thought I was a woman to be courted. Of course, when he realized it was me, he apologized and resorted to talk about the Black Eagles, which in turn led to him talking about your frequent tea gatherings."

Ferdinand wishes to imagine what the sight of Linhardt sleeping with his hair falling free under moonlight would look like. He is half tempted to ask Lorenz about it. Since his fellow noble had mistaken the son of the Von Hevring house for a maiden, he suspects Linhardt had looked rather beautiful.

"I... agree that those teas are more of my taste, but sometimes I do appreciate the more herbal taste of this one."

"Hmm... You might default to the strong, bright Southern Fruit Blend, yes, but we both know you prefer the earthy Almyran Pine Needles."

He felt confused. How could Linhardt decide what Ferdinand thought about one thing or another?

"The tea that actually matches you the most is the Pine Needle one. The others are just what you think you should prefer. It is a matter of perception. Just like your personality and life, you think more refined or generally better-liked things should be in your favor."

What?

Linhardt emptied his cup and poured more for himself.  
"What I'm trying to say here is that you default to thoughts of nobility's grandeur because that is what you have been taught all your life. That is what you were raised for, what you have trained for."

How does that relate to tea?

Linhardt twisted his cloth napkin between his deft fingers.  
"In spite of that, you readily agree to thoughts and plans of a nation without nobles just as long as the idea of those who have more power in the structure take responsibility and serve those in need.

Am I correct?"

Ferdinand felt flabbergasted. Where was this coming from?

"So, you see, my disinterest in partaking in noble affairs of any sort to try and understand how crests work is in line with your personal beliefs."

Linhardt eyes seemed to be challenging, saying that he had caught on to the reason of Ferdinand's previous shock all along.

"Because, what if I manage to get rid of them and save Lysithea, our professor? What if I free Sylvain?

Or what if I find a way for everyone to have crests in a safe manner that won't detriment their health? Or if I find a way to put them to practical use in daily life beyond the medicinal benefits?"

His blue eyes harden a bit with his growingly stern demeanor.  
"I may not have a very specific goal I want to achieve through crests, but that is because I do not have enough understanding of their power to know what we might accomplish with them. 

Yet, I promise, if you allow to feed my curiosity and my research to take flight, something will be bound to come from it for all of us, nobles and commoners alike."

He continues to gape where he sits, undoubtedly perceiving the willpower in the droopy blue eyes that observe him back.   
A shiver runs through Ferdinand's entire body.

"I-I- I'm deeply sorry for ever misjudging you. Here I thought you were living astray, guided by selfishness and laziness, but you-. 

Linhardt. 

From among all the other students that hail from the Adrestian Empire, you are the one with the purest, noblest intentions for the people. You are the one working on the path leading to the Empire's, no, all of Fódlan's bright future!"

Linhardt quirks a brow and tilts his head sideways in a cattish manner. The longer strands of his hair that lay tied behind his back slide slowly, falling over his shoulder, catching the light not unlike the leaves of the surrounding trees, his eyes gleaming with poorly veiled amusement. His eyes, like the pond in a clear summer day.

Perhaps, Ferdinand thinks, Linhardt was an earthy man himself, a being born to be one with the tranquility of nature, grounded to reality in the triest of ways.

"Oh, but I am selfish! I would not be doing my research if I didn't find it interesting. Who's to say if it might become too dull for me one day, even before I reach a breathrough?"

Ferdinand bursts into a small laugh, surprised. He shakes his head and smiles genuinely, gently. "No, I think not. In the span of these few minutes of indulging in conversation with each other, I've come to undestand you much more deeply than I ever expected. Linhardt, you truly are a wonderful man. Would you like to go fishing once we finish this pot of tea?"

Linhardt blinks owlishly, and Ferdinand can't remember the last time he saw those bright sapphires shine free from the shadow cast by heavy eyelids. A soft smile graces the other's small, pink lips and, ah-! 

Ferdinand knows he is long gone, already knees-dip in the pools of water of Linhardt's eyes without having realized when he'd even begun to wade in.

"I might have thought you were too noisy not long ago, but I wouldn't be loathesome to listen to some relaxing chatter while we wait in between fish bites. But before we part-!"

Linhardt moves in the chair, rising enough to lean over the small table between them and pressing a kiss to his left cheek. 

For a dizzying moment, Ferdinand's view is full of pale skin and soft forest tresses that he yearns to brush and kiss. He blinks out of his daze to find Linhardt mere inches away, smiling coyly at him.

He can't help but chuckle at his friend's(?) antics. "You, sir Von Herving, are quite a sly charmer."

As Linhardt attempts to answer, Ferdinand leans forward to capture those tantalizing lips, pink, small, and full, like spring buds. Once they separate, both their visages are tainted in red, matching the sunset sky above them.

Linhardt touches his lips delicately (Ferdinand wishes he could become the fingertips that caress the skin he just tasted). "My! If I'd known trading kisses with the noblest SUN of Von Aegir would mean that I also got to enjoy the taste of one of my favorite teas, well, I would have tried it a lot sooner."

Ferdinand feels his entire body burning like it never had before, and the sight causes Linhardt to laugh.

He has discovered so many new things about this almost perpetually sleeping boy, but Ferdinand's curiosity grows ever stronger with each new piece of information.

"Now, let's go fishing, and allow me to investigate you for a change, Lin. You are utmost fascinating."

Linhardt snorts, "As long as that research of yours includes acceptable amounts of... physical experimentation, of course, I would love to."

His hand is grabbed by long, slender fingers that had healed him countless times before, now healing his heart, and Ferdinand witnesses Linhardt stride slowly, albeit with determination and happiness adding a swing to his elegant movements, the smile staying at home on the curves of his mouth and the glitter of his eyes.

If anything, he feels pride that someone as compassionate and empathic as Linhardt would want a fumbling ignorant such as him at his side.

Oh, how things change in a heartbeat.  
And, well, with a nice cup of tea.

**Author's Note:**

> I got this game way too late, and even without having finished any route, I decided to watch all of the supports that didn't involve the 3 house leaders and the Church people.
> 
> And... Linhardt and Ferdinand are my favorite! 😍 So, I decided to ship them to make me even happier.  
> I hope to write more for this rarepair.
> 
> You can support my writing by finding my info on my pinned tweet @ContrastMinds on Twitter.


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